May Newsletter

Dear Members

I just can’t believe it’s nearly time for the classes again! The club has been very lucky with lots of new members so far this year. I think people are beginning to realise now how real the threat to honeybees is. We have turned loads of people away from the course, I think we could have gone up to about 40 but it just isn’t practicable. Hope the weather will soon pick up again and that last week wasn’t the summer! Wasn’t it glorious?

We have even more new members!

Chris Beaumont from Llangua + a family member

Sandra Hearn from Peterchurch and Robbie (age 9) family member

Heather Kennard from Bishopstone

Paul Mason from Brampton, Madley

Tom Straker from Little Dewchurch.

We are very pleased to welcome them all to the Association and hope to meet them very soon if we haven’t already.

Class 1&2 are May 9/10 and Class 3&4 are May 16/17.

This is a very well supported day locally and an ideal place to stock up on your summer plants. Dan will be there with his trees and the Wye Valley Stand will be there too. Events are staged at Dorstone Hall, Dorstone Church and the Playing Field. For more info please ring Bryn Brooks on 01981 550262.

This provides an ideal opportunity to see how other members keep their bees, discuss problems and pick up and exchange ideas and see our beautiful countryside as well.

Dave Williams will accompany you and will be looking at the hives with you so it should be a fun day but also informative..

We are going to the North of the region this time. Andrew Gilliat is kindly inviting us to Shobdon. We will then go to Dan and Suzanne to see their hive and we will have a Bring and Share Picnic at Bearwood. Our final visit will be announced in the June newsletter along with directions. Just be sure to mark your calendars!

The Annual Auction saw enormous interest this year. The lovely spring sunshine brought out the buyers and sellers and we had 207 lots of beekeeping equipment for sale.  There was a wide variety of items and lots of people were able to get well stocked up for the coming season.   Auctioneers Dave and Geoff kept things moving along smoothly and fuelled by the great homemade cakes, the bidders kept on bidding!  Total sales for the day were £1959. The WVBKA received £195.90 in commission plus kind donations from Mr Moreton of Shrewsbury and Mr Price of Pen-y-bont. Added to the £59.46 made by the Catering Committee, the WVBKA made a total of £263.86. Thanks to everyone who helped out and made this event so successful.
Suzanne and Dan 

I would like to thank Mike Davis who opened up for us as usual and to David Bannister and Bryn who did a sterling job of emptying the trailers ready to put the lots on. I was very impressed with David’s driving! Having over 200 lots we were kept busy all afternoon. Dan did the booking in, Jane and I stuck lot numbers on, Jane did a terrific job cleaning up especially where the food was served. My Dave, Geoff, David and Bryn were kept busy unloading vans etc. Gill Jones is now quite famous for her Bara Brith! Thanks to Rosie who sent cakes and Gill who made the rest. It’s certainly true- home-made cakes are the way to bidders’ stomachs! Thanks everyone.

The Coach Trips have now been discontinued so will you please cross it off the calendar.

The first and most important thing is to establish whether you have a Queen with normal brood. You might say what else would I find at this time of year? It is quite a common thing for the Queen to become a drone layer. At that point you have to make a decision on how to re-pair it. It is also quite common to unite with another stock. Now that is fine but you must first establish the cause; if it is simply a drone laying queen and no disease is suspected then it is quite plausible to unite. Many years ago I practised uniting and equalising, a method well described by brother Adam. I have learnt over the years that this is not a good practice. It is much better to try and breed bees from your best colonies perpetuating good strong colonies. The problem with this sort or thing is you can never be sure of your results. All you can do is your best; you will certainly win some and lose some. That is the nature of bee keeping. We have discussed a normal scenario, what about an abnormal situation. What would you do with a colony if it has died out during Winter? Do not let other bees rob the stores which are left; turn the entrance block to prohibit other bees entering until you have carried out an inspection of the comb. If you are in any doubt discard those old brood combs, clean and sterilise your hive before using again. Some would argue this is not necessary and up to a point I would not disagree. If the comb is fairly new and and serviceable you can sterilise with 80% acetic acid. This is quite a common practice amongst bee farmers and there is nothing wrong with that practice providing there is no brood disease present. By looking carefully you can get a good idea, if in doubt in the slightest discard. One other side of spring development is that colony which does not develop. There may be many causes for this; a poor Queen and adult bee diseases. It may be possible to do some diagnostic work with the microscope to establish some of the causes and yes, you can treat with this or that to help. There is also a different approach- that is simply to leave alone. Providing there is no brood disease or varroa there is always the chance that it will come right later in the season or next season. But of course most cannot wait that long. We have watched this sort of thing over the years and quite often a colony will come right. Don't be too hasty to consign it to the scrap heap. This sort of thing has always surprised me. Many years ago as a young wippersnapper my father said ‘don't be too hasty’ and many times I have seen his words come true. Right now you have reached the situation where your colonies are Queen right and building up quite nicely, hopefully without any tendency to swarm just yet and are disease free. Also you will have your supers ready to add as necessary. Do not allow bees to become congested, better to add more room than run the risk of this. Examine on a regular basis. Of course I am unassuming you'll have carried out all the necessary disease checks well before. These are routine and not too difficult to do. Do not allow complacency to creep in. It is quite normal to have variation within your hives. These notes are to help those who are less experienced amongst us; they may not be the definitive answer to all problems which may occur within your hives. Remember you are dealing with livestock and there is always variation. All these notes assume you know what healthy brood looks like. Diseased larvae will stand out and there are many causes for this. It does not necessarily mean that there is a brood disease.your your you all within your

Most of you are aware that new money has been made available. With this in mind I personally would like to see this money being used wisely and not squandered on useless things. Now is the time to pull together. I read with dismay some of the criticisms banded around by various people who should know better. That side of our craft fills me with bad thoughts. If you think of a colony of bees like I do, you will know they generally work in harmony, all working for a common cause and well being. We seem to be hell bent on criticising various aspects and not focusing on the job in hand. What beekeeping requires is numerous people to actually roll their sleeves up and get down to plain straightforward beekeeping . There are far too many people prepared to talk but when you ask the same people to actually put their shoulder to the wheel and pull in the same direction, usually they are found wanting. I am not talking about our own association. I am talking nationally, there seems to be quite a lot of division. Man is quite capable of achieving great things if we pull in the same direction. If you have a group of men all with a common cause it is quite amazing what can be achieved. This came over to me quite starkly when I did my national service. We all need to think positively and not rubbish one another. This type of behaviour is counter productive. You might think what on earth is he talking about? Is he just having a bad day? Yes, I do have thoughts on the way beekeeping should be going. Number one we should bring back the County Beekeeping Instructor to take charge of the education of beekeepers. This would free up the Defra men to concentrate on disease, which was the primary reason why they were put there in the first place. I have spoken to some who say they are too stretched to cope already. To me if you give work to people who are all ready at full stretch you end up with a situation where nothing gets done properly. This is not a criticism but that a fact. Interestingly what is the point in having beekeepers trained to NDB level then having no opportunity to use those skills. To me that is a waste, but that is just my opinion .

Thanks to Paul Ellis, one of our new recruits who sent me details of an interview on Farming Today on 17^th April. Richard Lindsey, a Shropshire beekeeper has had 18 hives stolen from an apiary, the hives were gone and just the stands left. There have been other incidents around the country. Tim Lovett Chairman of BBKA pointed out that bees have become more and more valuable. He said beekeepers are a fairly close knit community and it is very sad if some are turning ‘rogue’.

It has to be organised by people who know about bees and the risks involved. You need protective clothing and an appropriate vehicle or trailer. Keep an eye on your bees and watch out for anything suspicious. If you can mark or brand them in some way that cannot be removed easily so much the better. This is just one more problem on top of all the others we have to contend with.

If you are interested in a site in a small orchard at Orcop please contact:-

There may be a few of them about soon. If you are looking for a swarm then please let me know as obviously we are the first people who are contacted when swarms appear. Even if you do not really want a swarm would you be willing to help members of the public by removing one in your area. If so, again please let me know.

Association Extractor for hire.

Deposit of £40 plus a hiring fee of £10 for the first hire, but only £5 for subsequent hire in the same season. The Extractor is usually kept at Golden Valley Apiaries and is available to members. Give us a ring if you would like to hire it, likewise if you would like to borrow any books from our Library.